Container structure



May 2, 1967 w. BADE ET AL CONTAINER STRUCTURE Filed March 15, 1965INVENTORS WERNER BADE ALAN N. SEIDEMAN QAHATJV United States Patent3,317,038 CONTAINER STRUCTURE Werner Bade, Bayside, and Alan N.Seideman, New York, N.Y., assignors to Pallam Development Corp., NewYork, N.Y., a corporation of New York 7 Filed Mar. 15, 1965, Ser. No.439,839 Claims. (Cl. 206-62) The present invention relates to acontainer structure having particular application in the fabrication ofphono graph record jackets and a method of making such containers.Although the invention will be described in this environment, it will bereadily apparent that the principles and techniques of the inventionhave considerably broader application in the fabrication of differenttypes of containers.

At the present time, phonograph record jackets are rather costly intheir manufacture. primarily to the number of different componentsneeded to construct the jacket, along with the, number of necessarysteps involved in the manufacturing process. First, the back side of thejacket containing the printed history and other text material is boundto two sheets of precut cardboard so that the back edge ends up showingthe title of the record. Next, the face picture which is printed andpre-cut is affixed to the jacket. To protect the printing againstabrasion, many jackets are coated with a thin film of polyethylene. Thisis a hand fed operation. The jackets are then shipped to the recordmanufacturer who further protects the record with either a paperenvelope or a polyethylene envelope or both, before inserting therecords into the jackets.

it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedcontainer structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved phonograph record jacket.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved phonograph record jacket which requires fewer components.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a newand improved phonograph record jacket which may be fabricated bysimplified mass production techniques.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved container which is simple in construction and inexpensive tofabricate.

A container structure according to the present invention includes aplurality of panels of thermoplastic sheet material forming a containerand having printed matter at prescribed locations on the inside surfaceof at least one of the panels. The container structureof the inventionalso includes foam material bonded to the inside surfaces of the panels.

For a better understanding of the present invention, to-

gether with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to thefollowing descrition, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially cut-away, of a phonograph recordjacket constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view, in perspective, of a blank for a phonographrecord jacket constructed in accordance with the present invention; I

FIG. 3 is an edge view of the blank of FIG. 2, properly assembled, asthe blank is being folded into the form of a phonograph record jacket;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the phonograph record jacket of FIG.1 showing the disposition of a phonograph record therein; and

The expense is due FIG. 5 is a cross section view taken along line 5-5of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, a container constructed in accordance with thepresent invention includes a plurality of panels 11 and 12 ofthermoplastic sheet material, such as polyethylene, vinyls, polystyrene,or comparable material. In the fabrication of a phonograph recordjacket, the panels 11 and 12 are usually of square shape with the panel11 serving, for example, as the front panel and panel 12 serving as theback panel. It is apparent that the panels may take various other shapesand configurations.

At least one of the panels, and often both of the panels, is providedwith printed matter at prescribed locations on the inside surface. Bythe inside surface, it is meant that surface not serving as an outsidesurface after the container has been formed. The printed matter may betext material or it may be of an ornamental nature as shown in thedrawing. The printed matter is so arranged as to be viewed from theoutside of the container. Therefore, for text material, the printingmust be the mirror image of the material as read so that it will appearin the proper manner when viewed from the outside. Although in mostcases the thermoplastic sheet will be absolutely transparent so as toprovide a clear and undistorted view of the printed matter on the insidesurface, absolute transparency is not always required. In some cases, atranslucent thermoplastic sheet may suffice or may, in fact, bepreferred.

A container constructed in accordance with the present invention furtherincludes a foam material v13 bonded to the inside surfaces of the panels11 and 12. Foam material 13 may be polyurethane or a similar material.For the embodiment of the record jacket shown in the drawings, the foammaterial 13 covers substantially the entire inside surfaces of both thepanels 11 and 12. The bonding the foam material 13 to the thermoplasticsheet may be effected by any of the conventional methods such as fusionor adhesion. The bonding may be carried out throughout the entire areaover which the foam material 13 is' in contact with the thermoplasticsheet or it may be efiected only along the edges of both. .It should bepointed out that the foam material 1-3 need not cover substantially theentire surface of the thermoplastic sheet. Smaller pieces of foammaterial bonded to the thermoplastic sheet at specific locations may bepreferred. One possible arrangement, for example, is to have one pieceof foam material in each of the four corners of the jacket and a fifthpiece in the center.

The preferred construction of a phonograph record jack-' et according tothe present invention is to form both the front and back square panels11 and 12 of a single thermoplastic sheet folded along the center line.14 of the sheet with two of the remaining edges 15 and 16 of the foldedstructure being joined together by a heat seal. The foam material 13,also in the form of a layer, covers substantial ly the entire surface ofthe thermoplastic sheet to which it is bonded and is folded along thecenter line 17 of the foam layer. As is best brought out in FIG. 5, thearea of the layer of foam material 13 is slightly smaller than thethermoplastic sheet so that the contiguous edges of the thermoplasticsheet of the folded structure may be heat sealed without any foammaterial interposed between these edges.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate how a phonograph record 18 is disposed withinthe phonograh record jacket constructed in accordance with the presentinvention. The record -18 may be slipped into the jacket or removed fromthe jacket through the fourth edge .19 which is kept open. When thephonograph record 18 is inserted into the jacket, the foam material 13being sufficiently resilient yields, thereby providing a cushion for therecord.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that a phonograph recordjacket constructed according to the principles and techniques of thepresent invention achieves several desirable results. First, because theprinting is done on a rigid thermoplastic sheet, the need for cardboardis eliminated. Since the printing is on the reverse side of thethermoplastic sheet there is no need for a protective coating or film.When a single thermoplastic sheet is used to form the entire jacket,printing on the front, back and edge can be done at one time. Thethermoplastic sheet has such properties that it may be folded veryeasily by the application of heat and pressure into the form desired.This eliminates binding since the two remaining edges may be closed byheat sealing. The need for a record protector such as polyethylene orpaper envelopes is eliminated due to the foam material lining the insidesurfaces of the jacket. The foam material provides additional protectivecushioning.

The preferred form of a phonograph record jacket according to thepresent invention may be fabricated by the following steps. First, asheet of thermoplastic material is cut to the desired dimensions. Next,the desired text or ornamental design is printed on one surface of thethermoplastic sheet. A layer of foam material is then bonded orlaminated to the thermoplastic sheet on the printed surface. The entirestructure is then folded along the center line by heating thethermoplastic sheet along the center line and then bringing the twohalves of the structure together. Heating renders the thermoplasticsheet sufficiently pliable for folding. Finally, the contiguous edgesare heat sealed along two edges of the folded structure leaving thethird edge of the folded structure open.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be thepreferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the invention and it is, therefore, aimedto cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A phonographic record jacket comprising: front and back panels ofthermoplastic sheet material; a seal area along part of the edges ofsaid panels, another part of the edges of said panels being open; and asheet of foam material located between said panels with edge portions ofsaid foam material sealed to said thermoplastic sheet material adjacentto said seal area, said seal area extending beyond the adjacent portionof the edge of said foam material whereby said panels are in directsealing contact in said seal area.

2. The phonographic record jacket of claim 1 in which both said frontand back panels are part of one piece of thermoplastic sheet materialand are joined together along a fold line which comprises one commonedge of both of said panels, said seal area comprising edge portions ofsaid panels between said fold line and said open edge.

.3. The phonographic record jacket of claim 11 in which saidthermoplastic sheet material is transparent and at least one of saidpanels comprises printed material on the inner surface thereof adjacentto said foam material.

4. The phonographic record jacket of claim 1 in which said front andback panels are substantially square and are joined directly togetheralong three edges and said foam material comprises two substantiallysquare portions joined together along three edges thereof contiguouswith said three edges of said panels and open along fourth edgesthereof, the fourth edges of said foam material being bonded to thefourth edges of said panels, respectively.

5. The method of making a phonograph record jacket comprising the stepsof bonding edge portions of a layer of foam material to a sheet ofthermoplastic material having sealing edges extending beyond said foammaterial; folding the resultant structure along a center line to bringtwo portions of said foam material into juxtaposition between twosections of said thermoplastic material, said sealing edges extendingfrom said center line; and heat sealing s-aid sealing edges directlytogether.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,847,390 3/1932Finn 156- 277 2,302,179 11/11 942 'Bronfman 156277 X 2,962,158 11/ 1960Struthers 206-46 2,998,129 8/ 196-1 Bekins 206-46 FOREIGN PATENTS1,040,278 10/ 8 Germany.

779,108 7/ '1957 Great Britain.

584,862 11/ 1958 Italy.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

1. A PHONOGRAPHIC RECORD JACKET COMPRISING: FRONT AND BACK PANELS OFTHERMOPLASTIC SHEET MATERIAL; A SEAL AREA ALONG PART OF THE EDGES OFSAID PANELS, ANOTHER PART OF THE EDGES OF SAID PANELS BEING OPEN; AND ASHEET OF FOAM MATERIAL LOCATED BETWEEN SAID PANELS WITH EDGE PORTIONS OFSAID FOAM MATERIAL SEALED TO SAID THERMOPLASTIC SHEET MATERIAL ADJACENTTO SAID SEAL AREA, SAID SEAL AREA EXTENDING BEYOND THE ADJACENT PORTIONOF THE EDGE OF SAID FOAM MATERIAL WHEREBY SAID PANELS ARE IN DIRECTSEALING CONTACT IN SAID SEAL AREA.